"This is the sound my heart would make if I could amplify it." ~ Carrie Brownstein

Monday, March 16, 2009

MUSIC MONDAY | Say Hallelujah

A friend of mine - The Brat - played Evanescence's "Bring Me To Life" at her wedding - a choice that I totally approve of. Not that it matters what I think. It's her wedding, not mine. Still, we are living the age of soundtrack, where for every significant moment of our lives, there has to be a song to go with it.

This thread of thought started with this music meme, where my answer to "WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?" is "Number One Enemy" by The Slits. It was irony by randomness, but it did make me think a little about what song would I want to be played at my funeral.

In one of those moments of idle chatter, I asked The Brat what song would she pick for her funeral. She said it didn't matter; she would be dead. The song really, is for the living, just as a funeral is also for the benefit of the living. A funeral is a ritual, something for us to cope and come to terms with that unknown and terrible notion of mortality. What is it about death that I fear most? I guess I am afraid that nobody will come to my funeral. It's an irrational fear, but one that is entirely possible, because I kept my life so compartmentalized, my family has no idea who my friends are.

If I have a choice though (because I would want my funeral to be about me, because we would like some governance over our lives and our deaths in any way we can) - I would like Tracy Chapman's "Say Hallelujah" to be played at my funeral. The lyrics says almost everything I would like to tell my friends, especially this part:

I chose "Bring me to life" because it was appropriate for my frame of mind at that point in my life. That and the fact that hearing Shania Twain's "From this moment" would have made me barf (it was played at almost every wedding i have ever attended).

A long time ago, i did have a short list of songs that i wanted played at my funeral. And then i realised, hey, i'm not going to be able to hear the songs when i am dead in a box. And so that list no longer exists.

You are right, funerals are part of the grieving process for the living, so they should play what they want to hear.